US Department of Justice plans to restrict all forms of online gambling

Richard Williams, Licensing Partner at law firm Joelson, comments on news that the US Department of Justice plans to restrict all forms of online gambling:

“News that the US Department of Justice has decided to restrict all forms of online gambling will be a serious blow to operators that have rushed to take advantage of new state-specific gambling legislation in the US.

The fear is that uncertainty around how this decision will be applied may lead financial instructions to adopt a knee-jerk reaction and block remote gambling transactions altogether, which could wipe out the fledgling industry.

It remains to be seen whether the Department of Justice’s decision will lead to any retrospective federal enforcement for states that have already enacted legislation, or whether financial instructions will indeed adopt a blanket approach and block transactions. Whatever the outcome, investors in the fledgling online gambling market will no doubt be uneasy about anything that could scale back gambling operators’ prospects in the potentially huge US remote gambling market.”